1. Field of the Invention
The instant disclosure relates generally to a lamp having a heat dissipating lamp shell of stamping structure, and pertains particularly to a lamp that utilizes a strong light weight lamp shell of stamping structure that functions as both a heat sink and a protective housing.
2. Description of Related Art
Solid state light sources generally offer superior service life and energy efficiency over traditional light sources. Modern solid stage light sources, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), are capable of generating lumen output comparable to (or even surpassing) that of the traditional light sources at only a fraction of the energy consumption. Compared to traditional lighting sources, such as incandescent or halogen lights, LED creates visible light with considerably reduced heat generation or parasitic energy dissipation. Moreover, the LED light sources are not only physically compact in size but also generally more resistant to shock and vibration. Furthermore, LEDs of different compositions are capable of offering a wide spectrum of output colors, thus conveniently eliminating the need for traditional color filters.
While LEDs offer higher energy efficiency at lower operating voltage requirements, these solid state lighting devices are inherently vulnerable to heat damage. Unfortunately, current high power LED light sources still generate significant level of heat output. Thus, the illuminating performance of these solid state lighting devices may be severely impaired by the high temperature that results from excessive waste heat.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,871,184 B2, owned by the instant Applicants, provided an effective heat dissipating structure for a LED lamp. The rather complicated shape of the heat dissipating structure disclosed therein helps to maximize surface area of the heat sink, thus effectively improves the heat removal capacity. However, the complicated shape of the heat dissipating structure requires the employment casting construction. Generally, casting process requires high initial cost for the molding equipments and significant level of energy consumption to preserve the molten materials in the working condition. Moreover, products made by casting process are inevitably heavier due to the higher casting weight requirement of the fluid materials. Furthermore, the potential porosity remained in the casted structure is inherently hazardous to the structural integrity thereof.
In comparison, stamping process (particularly cold stamping process), whose work piece is based around sheet materials, is more material conserving and energy efficient. Moreover, stamping process may yield products that are thin and light weight. Furthermore, structural integrity of the materials undergone drawing or stamping process may be enhanced through work hardening.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a light weight yet effective heat dissipating structure capable of serving as both a heat sink and a protective housing for a lighting device.